Carlton: Aggies seize moment on grand stage, win first national title

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The Texas A&M Aggies celebrate after the championship game of the 2011 NCAA Women's Final Four on April 5, 2011 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. the Texas A&M Aggies defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 76-70 to win the national title.

INDIANAPOLIS — After long stretches of frustration in the NCAA Women’s Tournament, Danielle Adams would not be denied with a championship tantalizingly close.

Neither would Texas A&M, the second seed that dreamed of greater things and seized the moment.

In the most important game of their lives on the biggest stage, the Aggies delivered the school its first national basketball title with a 76-70 victory Tuesday over Notre Dame.

As they had for five previous games in the tournament, the Aggies (33-5) hugged and danced. Then, they assembled on a raised stage at Conseco Fieldhouse to hoist the NCAA trophy amongst the confetti.

They even coaxed coach Gary Blair, the Dallas native who jump-started a program that had endured seven straight losing seasons when he arrived from Arkansas in 2003, into a few forgettable dance moves.

The Aggies’ effort was anything but.

The Final Four was supposed to be about UConn’s search for a third straight title or vindication for Stanford’s seniors. A&M and Notre Dame spoiled the party and produced a far more compelling title game than Butler and Connecticut did.

Adams pounded inside for 30 points and nine rebounds and showed the dominant game that made her an All-American. Her scoring total was the second highest in championship game history, topped only by Sheryl Swoopes’ 47 points for Texas Tech against Ohio State in 1993. Adams claimed the most outstanding player of the Final Four and was joined by White on the all-tournament team.

“I had a little voice in my head that said, ‘Don’t let this team down,’ ” said Adams, who scored 22 points in the second half on 9-of-11 shooting. “We worked hard the whole season to prepare for this point.”

Said Notre Dame’s Devereaux Peters: “We couldn’t guard her.”

White, nicknamed the team’s “Silent Assassin,” provided the key basket on command like she had in the semifinal win over Stanford. As the shot clock expired, she connected on a backbreaking 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining to give the Aggies a five-point lead.

A Sydney Colson turnover gave the Irish possession down three, 73-70, with 29 seconds left. A&M forced a turnover with White coming up with the steal. Two free throws later, the A&M lead was five.

While Notre Dame (31-8) got 23 points from star guard Skylar Diggins, A&M’s defense made the left-handed sophomore work for her points, something that neither Tennessee nor UConn could do. She shot just 7-of-19 from the field.

In a game of major momentum changes, the Aggies led by 13 in the first half and trailed by seven early in the second half before slowly, surely, inexorably taking command and giving it back one more time.

Blair apologized for having to “use the whip a little” at halftime, a horse-racing reference. “But they responded,” he said. Later he asked point guard Sydney Colson if she had forgiven him for yelling at her after she picked up three first-half fouls.

“I surely do,” said Colson, who played the entire second half.

Colson, normally the wise-cracking, smiling team presence on the podium, choked back tears as she thought of the achievement.

“I’m just so proud ... we got to play the last game of the season together and we got a win,” Colson said. “And it’s just awesome.”

A&M had already beaten two No. 1 seeds and might as well been playing another in Notre Dame, which had upset two-time defending champion UConn in the semifinals.

Conseco Fieldhouse might as well been in the shadow of the Golden Dome. About three-fourths of the crowd of 17,473 seemed to be wearing Irish green.

At the end, the Aggie War Hymn trumped the Victory March, and Adams outdueled Diggins in a battle of All-Americans.

A&M really had no choice but to go to Adams and White.

Blair acknowledged that his all-Sydney backcourt of Colson and Sydney Carter “realized they were on fumes” in the second half after a hard game Sunday against Stanford. They still combined for nine assists, five by Colson.

Adams came to A&M before the 2009-10 season as junior college All-American, an offensive talent with conditioning issues. Now 40 pounds lighter, she took A&M to the top. At 6-1, she had battled bigger defenders throughout the tournament and struggled. She had shot just 17 of 52 in her past three tournament games, after making nearly half her shots during the season en route to averaging 22 points a game.

Her teammates knew she would deliver when they needed it.

“She is such a warrior,” Carter said. “She knew it was her last game and I applaud her effort in never giving up and willing her team to victory.”

After watching Adams fire from the perimeter in the first half and shoot 4-of-11, Blair told her to move inside. Notre Dame had no answers as she established deep position. When they did go with a triple team on a late inbounds play, White struck with a 3-pointer.

“She’s a team player. She’s a ‘we’ player,” Blair said of Adams. “It’s never about her. It’s about her teammates. She’s a special kid.”

She never lacked confidence, though.

On the A&M official website before the Final Four, she said the Aggies would bring home the NCAA trophy to their fans. Then she delivered, helping A&M shoot 68 percent in the second half. She broke a 66-66 tie with consecutive inside baskets.

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